RESEARCH - FILM OPENING ANALYSIS: WILDCHILD

 

This film opening has no film titles, apart from the title of the film which appears within the first few seconds of the scene. This is different to other film openings I have watched, but I don’t think it leaves the film at any sort of disadvantage. The main images portrayed are a rich American household, and the main characters life style. We learn quickly that the mother of the family has died, explaining why although rich, we are shown the young daughter making her own sandwich alone. Poppy, the main character and older sister, helps finish her sisters’ lunch when she walks into the kitchen, showing she has perhaps taken over the maternal role in the household.  
We are then introduced to many of Poppy’s friends, who she brings to ‘sabotage’ all of her stepmother’s belongings. All the kids are unruly, loud and seem to have no respect, and this can be quite overwhelming. However, Poppy is the ringleader of all the chaos so it seems to be a fun, although crazy atmosphere.
The genre of this film is a comedy, romance, teen drama. There are many elements suited to everyone’s interests throughout the film, therefore covering several different genres.
This opening scene may already appeal to the target audience because of the lifestyle shown. The target audience for this film is predominately teenage girls, so showing a popular, glamourous teenage girl with all her friends in her big house in Malibu is appealing. It looks like great fun and the main character, Poppy, is obviously rebellious so the audience want to see what happens, after her Dad threatens seriously to send her to boarding school for all her misbehaviour.
Different shots are used throughout this scene, to portray different things. For example, in front of all her friends Poppy jumps off her garden wall into the sea, and everyone is laughing until her Dad appears. We see Poppy from a high angle shot as her Dad looks at her from the top of the wall, showing her vulnerability in this position and her Dads authority and power. We also see a low angled shot from Poppy’s point of view, as her father and friends looking down at her, both having very different reactions. The moment where all the teenagers swarm the delivery van to sabotage all of the stepmother’s belongings, it is filmed at eye level to show the chaos of how many people were there, causing trouble with Poppy.
This opening scene is very different to the rest of the film, but is probably one of the most important. We are shown Poppy’s lifestyle in America, and it is how we understand her struggles in England at Boarding School, when her father carries out his threat.